The Puzzle Alarm Clock
by eighth world wonder
Summary: When Sirius buys a new alarm clock that won't shut off until the puzzle is put back together, chaos ensues in the Marauders' dorm to find the pieces and stop the beeping.


**The Puzzle Alarm Clock**

**By Angela Rizhel**

The floor of the Marauder's dorm was littered with sweets wrappers. Dirty clothes covered Sirius Black's trunk along with a Nimbus 1500. James Potter's trunk was covered with Quidditch magazines and several pieces of parchment. One read _Rejected Map, did not reveal people under invisibility cloaks. _Another read _Rejected Marauder's Map due to incorrect Professor locators. _Peter's bed covers were half on the floor, half twisted all over him. Only Remus Lupin's area was tidy. He was in his bed, his covers neatly tucked around him.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

Sirius's alarm clock went off, its face reading 7:30 AM. Simultaneously, four puzzle pieces shot into the air. A red piece hit Sirius's cheek and bounced onto the floor, slightly blending in to the Gryffindor red carpet. The green piece landed in Peter's rumpled bed covers. The blue puzzle piece went underneath James's bed, and the yellow piece landed on top of Remus's closed trunk.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

"Whose alarm clock is that?" James asked groggily, still half asleep.

"Its Sirius's…" Remus mumbled.

"Make it stop, Remus," Peter said, partially suffocated by his covers.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

"I'll turn it off," Remus went to the alarm clock on Sirius's nightstand and pressed the snooze button. "It's not working. SIRIUS!" Remus yelled. Sirius continued to snore loudly. Remus conjured a cup of water and splashed some of it on Sirius's neck.

"Mmm… Jessica…that feels so good…I love it when you kiss my neck…" Sirius smiled in his sleep.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

"Eeww. Sirius! Keep that between you, your bathroom, and your PlayWizard magazine." James covered his ears with his pillow.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

"_Levicorpus," _Remus said. Sirius was suddenly flipped upside down, hanging by his toes on an invisible hook. "I can't believe it; he's still asleep!" Remus exclaimed in disbelief.

By this point, James and Peter were both awake. "Here, Remus. I'll do it. Sirius! I'm going to eat the last chocolate pancake!"

Sirius's eyes shot open. "Oh no you don't! I'll rip out-- Why am I hanging?"

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"We can't shut off your alarm clock."

"It looks like a muggle alarm clock. Why don't you unplug it?" R emus suggested.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"There's no plug! I thought muggle things used plugs!" James freaked out.

"Wait a minute! The saleslady said that it runs off of barreties!" Sirius remembered.

"Do you mean batteries?" asked Remus, the only one of the Marauders who took Muggle Studies.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Yeah those! Take them out!"

"It looks like it needs a screwdriver…" said Remus

"What's that?" Peter asked while nibbling on an old chocolate frog.

"It's a muggle tool. We don't have one."

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Sirius, why won't it shut off?" James said. "I've never heard a more obnoxious noise in my entire life."

"Oh! That. Oops!" Sirius grimaced.

"What?"

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"When the alarm goes off, four puzzle pieces shoot into the air, and it won't shut off until you put them back into the top. See?" Sirius pointed to a square dent in the top of the clock.

"So all we have to do is find the pieces and put them back in?" James said. "That's not that hard…"

"Yup! Isn't it a neat clock?"

"Neat isn't exactly the word I would choose," Remus replied.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Yeah more like _satanic…"_ James muttered.

"Okay, let's look for the puzzle pieces," Remus said. "Sirius, why aren't you helping us? This is all your fault."

"Well, I would, but I'm kind of stuck!" Sirius indicated to his position, still hanging above his bed.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Oops. Sorry about that." _Liberacorpus! _Remus thought. "Hey, look I found the yellow piece!"

"Great, give it to me," said Sirius, sticking out his hand. James watched as Sirius stuck the yellow piece into the top of the clock.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

**10 minutes later…**

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

James proudly pushed the red piece he had found into the top of the clock, next to the yellow one. "Oops." As soon as James had put in the red piece, the yellow one popped out again and hit James in the eye.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that?" Sirius asked sheepishly.

"Seemed to have slipped your mind," James said through grit teeth as he held his eye.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Yeah, you have to put all the pieces in at the same time, otherwise they pop out."

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

**Another 10 minutes later…**

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Remus had crawled under the beds, and he was scarred for life from what he had found. He crawled under Sirius's bed and found porn, old food, and several pieces of lingerie. He crawled under James's bed and found several old Quidditch broom twigs and _Eureka! The blue piece!_

"Found one!" Remus called out from under the bed.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Oh thank Merlin!" James said. "But we're still missing one!"

"If my memory serves me correctly--" Sirius started.

"Like it ever has before…" Remus muttered under his breath.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"The last piece is green," said Sirius. "See, I'm helping!"

"Helping?! This is your fault! You had to buy an annoying alarm clock!"

"It's an amusing muggle toy! And the saleslady was SEXY, JUST LIKE ME!"

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Ugh! Just find the last piece!!"

**And yet another 10 minutes later…**

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Hey, look what I found!" Peter yelled.

"The green piece?"

"No, even better! A MARSHMALLOW!" Peter hollered, shoving the white fluffy cloud into his mouth. Remus simply stared at Peter.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Wormtail, you spend too much time with Sirius." Remus said.

"Hey!" Sirius said clearly offended, and Remus pushed him off Peter's bed. "Haha, you didn't inflict any pain on me, thanks to Peter's bed covers. Oh look, I found the last piece."

"Give it to me!" Sirius gave James the last piece, and James held all four pieces in his hand. He put the pieces in the top of the clock at the same time.

_Beep. Beep. Be--_

The Marauders flopped onto a bed with relief. "Sirius, you are forbidden to buy any novelty muggle products." James commanded.

"Ever again," Remus added.

--------------------------

When Harry and Ginny received a puzzle alarm clock from Remus for their one year anniversary, they missed the devious smile on his face as he remembered that humorous morning. And as Ginny and Harry scrambled to find four pieces scattered throughout their bedroom, Harry couldn't help but think there was a deeper reason that Remus gave the puzzle alarm clock to the couple.

---END---


End file.
